The 9 countries best at fighting corruption

A man dressed as a pig attends an anti-corruption protest in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana January 17, 2014. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic The World Economic Forum has released its 2017 "Inclusive Growth and Development Report"— a major look into how nations around the world can best ensure that their businesses and institutions function as efficiently as possible.

As the WEF's report puts it:

"Sound legal and competition institutions support efficient resource allocation and equal opportunity by preventing corruption, unduly high barriers to entry, and concentration of rents due to regulatory capture.

"Investment climate rules, incentives, and institutional capacity are important for enabling investors to capitalize on the level playing field created by robust legal and competition frameworks."

A big part of that is ensuring that corruption is kept to a minimum within businesses. To that end, one of the things the WEF ranks is how well corruption is fought and the ethics of political and business environments.

You can see the countries doing the best below (scores are given out of seven, with seven being the highest):

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T8. Denmark: 5.27 — In 2015, Denmark was voted the most transparent country in the world by Transparency International, and it scores highly in the WEF's analysis. It is the lowest ranked of four Scandinavian countries on this list.

REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

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T8. Singapore: 5.27 — The city-state of Singapore is one of the most highly developed nations in Asia, and has made huge efforts to fight corruption, spearheaded by its Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

Reuters

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7. Switzerland: 5.32 — In Switzerland, companies can be criminally prosecuted and ordered to pay a fine of up to CHF 5 million for acts of corruption committed by individuals working on its behalf.

Denis Balibouse / Reuters

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6. New Zealand: 5.36 — According to Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption "New Zealand does not have any one single agency tasked with fighting corruption." "Rather it has a number of agencies that focus on the different elements in the fight against corruption."

Parker Song/Pool/Reuters

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5. Norway: 5.39 — "Corruption does not represent a constraint to trade or investment, and administrative corruption and petty bribery are almost non-existent. The Norwegian Penal Code criminalises active and passive bribery, trading in influence, fraud, extortion, breach of trust and money laundering," according to GAN's business anti-corruption portal.

REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

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4. Finland: 5.42 — Finland has consistently ranked as one of the world's least corrupt countries. However a recent report from the Police University College said that corruption increased 10% from 2011-2014.

Reuters

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3. Sweden: 5.50 — Corruption in Sweden is policed by the country's National Anti-Corruption Unit, part of the Swedish Prosecution Authority. In the Scandinavian state, corruption is defined as "the abuse of power" by any official.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

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2. Japan: 5.57 — Japan is one of the least corrupt countries in the world, however, according to GAN "there is a traditional practice (known as amakudari) of assigning retired government officials to top positions within Japanese companies. Amakudari employees are particularly common in the financial, construction, transportation and pharmaceutical industries."

REUTERS/Issei Kato

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1. Luxembourg: 5.62 — Luxembourg tops the WEF's ranking despite recent revelations in The Guardian that former prime minister, and current European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker "spent years in his previous role as Luxembourg’s prime minister secretly blocking EU efforts to tackle tax avoidance by multinational corporations."